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On the road to London: Sam Bird

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After a first season in which he challenged for the title but was hampered by inconsistent results, Sam Bird’s second season has in fact been quite similar.

He finds himself third in the standings, having finished fifth last year, but the difficult to drive DS Virgin Racing machine has made it difficult to mount a sustained title challenge.

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Sam Bird experienced a roller-coaster race day in Beijing, with some ups and just as many downs. After qualifying 9th, four places behind team-mate Vergne, Bird lost a place off the line to a fast-starting d’Ambrosio, before getting it back a lap later. He then passed Sarrazin and Duval in quick succession, before a huge lock-up sent him off track and down to 11th. However, this did not stop the Brit, as he went on an overtaking frenzy – passing Abt, d’Ambrosio again, Senna, and team-mate Vergne to run 7th prior to the car swaps. All this overtaking took a lot of energy out of his DS powertrain though, and he crawled into the pits with just 1% of usable energy left. Coming out the pits in 10th, he passed a slowing Piquet for 9th, inherited 8th when Prost retired, and overtook Berthon on the very last lap to salvage 7th place and four points.

From race winner in Malaysia twelve months ago, to 14th on the grid this year, Sam Bird’s Putrajaya race day did not get off to the best start. But the race went a whole lot better for the British driver, who already moved up to tenth on the first lap and, despite running his battery all the way down to 1% usable energy, was able to make his car swap successfully on lap 18, one of the latest to stop. In the second stint he was not only able to pass Nick Heidfeld, who had almost hit the wall and made a miraculous save, but could also take advantage of issues suffered by the likes of da Costa, Duval and d’Ambrosio. In addition to this, he made a brave move on Robin Frijns who had just hit the wall and damaged his suspension, to finish in second place and take 18 huge points for both himself and his team. An impressive drive from the Brit.

Bird put in his best qualifying effort of the season to start a lofty 3rd. In the race, it looked as though a podium finish could be on the cards for the British driver – but his luck was cut short when he ran into reliability issues, causing him to retire from the race.

Bird took his first pole position of the season in Buenos Aires, finishing 4th in the group stages but turning it on when it mattered in the Super Pole. He made a strong start, holding off Nicolas Prost and maintaining his lead in the early stages. After the car swap phase, he had to contend with Lucas di Grassi behind, but held off the Brazilian expertly. Sebastien Buemi was then able to pass di Grassi and challenge Bird for the lead, but once again the Brit held on – helped by energy saving early in the race – and crossed the line in P1, taking his first win of the season and third overall.

Bird and the DS Virgin squad experienced a challenging race in Mexico City. The British driver seemed to struggle to hook his car up in qualifying, starting P10. He was able to fight his way up to P7 by the end of the race to score six valuable points in the title race.

Bird qualified 2nd in Long Beach, but was promoted to pole following a penalty for Antonio Felix da Costa. However it would not be a race to remember for the Brit: Lucas di Grassi surprised him with a pass for the lead on lap 12, while he made an error on lap 23, putting him into the wall. He rejoined in P7, managing to make up one position by the end to complete the race in sixth position.

Bird experienced another up and down race in Paris. He took another pole position, but made a disappointing start allowing both di Grassi and team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne through. A tough battle with Vergne would follow, the purple and silver cars touching several times as Vergne did not want to let his team-mate through, at the Frenchman’s home event. Bird then spent the second stint trying to hold off Sebastien Buemi, which he did well until locking up six laps from the end, going into the run-off and going from P3 down to P6, where he would finish the race.

More frustration followed for the Brit in Berlin; he started 4th but suffered front wing damage in the early stages, as did several other drivers in the tight confines of the German streets. And as with several other drivers, he received a black and orange flag from the stewards despite vociferous protests, forcing him to pit early for a front wing change and thus ruining his race.

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There have been a lot of ups for Bird in this season, but also a lot of downs. The heavy DS powertrain has been a big disadvantage on some tracks, and Bird himself has made a few errors that have cost points. Yet he still finds himself third in the championship, a testament to his frontrunning pace and racecraft.

London last year saw him take victory in the Sunday race, the first and so far only Formula E driver to win on home soil, but time will tell if the DS Virgin machine will suit the bumpy London track. If it does, watch out – Bird could be one of the favourites to take home victory once again.

Laurence Thorn | e-racing.net

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Images courtesy of Rajan Jangda

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